第20章

I try to revive my visitors--Demonstrations of amazement--A variety entertainment--Evil spirits in the mirror--"The star above my home"--"Preliminary canter" with the boat--A joyful procession--"Good-bye to my island home"--Nearing the main--Among the cannibals--Smoke telegraphy--A weird audience--A nation meets me--My first palace.

My state of mind was perfectly indescribable.Here, I thought, are some poor shipwrecked creatures like myself; and I prayed to God that I might be the means of saving them.The prospect of having at length some one to converse with filled me with unutterable joy, and I could hardly restrain myself from rushing into the water and swimming out to the catamaran, which was still several hundred yards away from me.Would it NEVER draw near? I thought, wild with impatience.And then, to my horror, I saw that it was closely followed by a number of sharks, which swam round and round it expectantly.Seeing this, I could contain myself no longer.

Sternly commanding my dog not to follow me, I waded into the waves and then swam boldly out to the catamaran, taking good care, however, to make a great noise as I swam, by shouting and splashing in order to frighten away the sharks.When eventually I did come up to the floating platform of logs, I found that there were four blacks upon it--a man, a woman, and two boys.All were lying quite prostrate through exhaustion, apparently more dead than alive.The sharks still hung on persistently, but at length I drove them away by beating the water with my oar, with which I then proceeded to paddle the catamaran ashore.You see, the oar I grasped when Bruno came to give the alarm proved of inestimable value; and so all through my marvellous years of sojourn among the cannibals an undeniable Providence guided my every action.But this will be seen from my narrative in a hundred amazing instances.I climbed aboard the catamaran and paddled it into shallow water; and then, jumping overboard again I pulled it right up on to the beach, and carried the four blacks one by one into my hut.They were in a most pitiable state of collapse.Their tongues were swollen and protruding out of their mouths, and for a long time I could get nothing down their throats.First of all I tried to revive them with cold water, but found they could not swallow.

Then I remembered the rum I had saved from the wreck all this time, and procuring some I rubbed their bodies with it, tied wet bandages round their necks, and rolled them about in wet sails, in the hope that in this way their bodies might absorb the necessary liquid.

You see I had an idea that they were dying from want of water.All four were terribly emaciated, and in the last stages of exhaustion.

After two or three hours' treatment, the two boys recovered consciousness, and some little time later the man also showed signs of reviving, but the woman did not come to until the afternoon.

None of them, of course, were able to walk; and in the meantime they did nothing but drink water.They seemed not to realise what had happened or where they were until the following day, and then their surprise--mainly at the sight of me--was beyond all description.Their first symptom was one of extreme terror, and in spite of every kind action I could think of, they held out for a long time against my advances--although I signed to them that I was their friend, patting them on the shoulders to inspire confidence, and trying to make them understand that I had saved them from a terrible death.I fancy they all thought they had died and were now in the presence of the mysterious Great Spirit! At any rate, it was not until they began to eat freely that they grew in some measure accustomed to me.Then an ungovernable curiosity manifested itself.From gazing at me unceasingly, they took to feeling me and patting my skin.They made queer, guttural sounds with their mouths, evidently expressive of amazement; they slapped their thighs, and cracked their fingers.

Next, my belongings came in for inspection, and everything excited wonderment and delight to such a degree, that I blessed Providence for sending me so much entertaining society.My hut, with its curious thatched roof, excited vast interest; and it was amusing to see the two boys, aged respectively about twelve and fourteen, following their parents about, jabbering incessantly, and giving me sly, half-terrified glances as they examined my implements and utensils.The woman was the first to get over her fear of me, and she soon grew to trust me implicitly; whereas her husband never ceased to view me with inexplicable suspicion until we regained his own country.He was a big, repulsive-looking savage, with a morose and sullen temper; and although he never showed signs of open antagonism, yet I never trusted him for a moment during the six long months he was my "guest" on the little sand-bank! It seems Iunwittingly offended him, and infringed the courtesy common among his people by declining to take advantage of a certain embarrassing offer which he made me soon after his recovery.